THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all. Please be seated. I'm honored to be
joined by members of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and
Sports. And today I've got an announcement to make as to how to encourage
our fellow citizens to exercise more.

First, I do want to thank the Chairman of this Council, John Burke. His
business is to make mountain bikes, Trek mountain bikes. (Laughter.) I
use Trek mountain bikes. (Laughter.) That's not why he's the Chairman.
(Laughter.) But I like to exercise a lot. And I hope my fellow citizens
learn to love exercise as well. It's good for your mind, exercise is good
for your body, and it's good for your soul. If you ride mountain bikes,
make sure you keep your eyes on the road -- (laughter) -- because sometimes
you can go over the handlebars -- (laughter) -- which I have done.

I want to thank the members of the Council for their good work to promote
physical fitness. I believe physical fitness is a vital issue for our
country. Nearly two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese.
That's too many. More than half of American adults do not get enough
physical activity to realize the health benefits. Not enough people are
exercising. The benefits include a lower risk for many serious conditions,
ranging from heart disease to diabetes to depression.

America's young people are three times more likely to be overweight than
they were three decades ago. Lack of physical fitness places a huge
financial burden on our nation. Diseases linked to unhealthy habits drive
up the price of health care for all Americans.

So we're encouraging Americans to take personal responsibility for their
own health. And one way we're doing so is through the Healthier U.S.
Initiative. Now this is an initiative I announced in 2002. And the key --
program had four key components.

First, be physically active every day. People say, I don't have time to be
physically active every day. Well, my suggestion is, make time. Secondly,
eat well. Thirdly, get preventive screenings. And fourthly, don't do
stupid things to your body -- like drugs and tobacco and excessive alcohol.

Today, we're unveiling a new way to encourage people across the United
States to boost their physical activity, and to have some fun doing it.
It's called the National President's Challenge. I appreciate very much the
Acting Surgeon General Steve Galson is with us, and the person who went to
the Press Club and kind of lent a little extra stuff to the announcement,
and that would be Eli Manning. He helped kick off this initiative. He
probably thought he'd be -- not having to deal with kickoffs any time after
the Super Bowl. (Laughter.) But I want to thank you all very much for
helping to highlight an interesting and exciting and a fun way for people
to realize the benefits of physical activity.

So here's how it works. First, you can go online at
www.presidentschallenge.org. www.presidentschallenge.org, and you can sign
up to participate. You can sign up as an individual, or you can sign up as
a group. This would be kind of a fun way to work out together. The
deadline, by the way, for signing up is April the 3rd. So get on your web
page there, and sign up.

Secondly, you get to decide how you're going to meet your physical fitness
goal. In other words, you set a goal, and then you pick the exercise or
activity. And there's about a hundred different activities to choose from,
ranging from gardening or skydiving. (Laughter.) So I suspect my father
will be signing up for skydiving. (Laughter.) Mother wants him to sign up
for gardening. (Laughter.)

Thirdly, start exercising. If you're an adult, then that means 30 minutes
of activity a day, five days a week. Or if you're a kid, 60 minutes. It's
just not that hard to do if you prioritize and discipline yourself. You've
got six weeks of activity to meet the challenge -- in other words, this
ends on May the 15th.

Fourth, you keep track of your activities. In other words, there's the --
on the website there's an activity log that will help make it easier to
track whether or not you're accumulating enough points to get an award.

And that's the fifth step. Individuals who meet their fitness goals can
receive certificates and medals. Schools that meet their goals will be
honored. And when you register, be sure to include the state you're from,
because all of us here -- up here on the stage will be watching to see
which state has the highest percentage of participants. And of course
there will be proper recognition for the state that does the best. I
suspect Texas will do very well. (Laughter.) I certainly hope so.

I want to thank the members of the President's Physical -- Council on
Physical Fitness and Sports for leading the effort. I really appreciate
your care about the country. I want to thank you for thinking innovatively
about how to encourage our fellow citizens to become active. I wish my
citizens the fellow best as they sign up for this exciting new challenge.
Have good exercise, have fun, and remember, you'll have a healthy tomorrow
when you do so. God bless. (Applause.)